Method and means for sinking shafts



Sept. 1-0, 1935. K. A. BERLIN ET AL METHOD AAND MEANS FOR SINKING SHAFTS Filed Sept.

2`Sheets-Sheet l Figi.

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Sept. l0, 1935. K. A. BERLIN ET AL 2,014,163

METHOD AND MEANS FOR SINKING SHAFTS l Filed sept. 3o, 1932 2 sheetysneet 2 FgZ.

R1" f- Surmz's how Bf" E 7m/622210)@ Patented Sept. 10, 1935 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE METHOD AND MEANS FOR SINKING SHAFTS Kopel A. Berlin and Simon A. Burmistrow,

Moscow, Union of Socialist Soviet Republics 2 Claims.

Among the many operations incident to` a shaft sinking process, the mucking or removing of the rock from the shaft occasions the most serious difficulty. Y

The mechanical devices at present in use for the mucking or removing of the rock from the shaft consist merely in the employment of a different kind of excavator, elevator, gripper, mechanical shovel, or the like. These devices and the methods for using them while giving some profitable results owing to the possibility of using large receptacles, did not reduce the necessary amount of hand work; they augment the scale of the work only. Therefore, up to date the eiciency of removal of the ro-ck remains very restricted and is the chief cause of the .objectionable long duration of the shaft sinking process.

Hence the necessity arises to seek new ways to render the process of removing the rockmore efficient.

It is the object of this invention to provide a new and useful method for removing from the shaft the rock broken down by blasting.

Another object of this invention is to provide new means for carrying out said new method.

The general idea of this invention is to employ the natural forces for removing the rock from the shaft. Such natural forces in this connection are the energy of the explosion and the force of gravity. It is known to remove the rock in such a manner that a head pit is made in the shaft, and at some distance above the pit bottom blast'holes are drilled. After the hoisting receptacle has been dropped onto the bottom of the pit, the charges in the blast holes are set 01T and the muck falls automatically into the receptacle or bucket, in which the rock broken down by the explosion is brought tothe surface.

This latter known method, while being very different as compared with all prior methods of extracting the rock, cannot resolve the problem of the essential acceleration of the process of removing the rock since this method comprises hand Work for making a deep central pit; then at some distance of the heel'of this central pit a chamber is made which is to be enlarged laterally and upwardly to the final width of the shaft.

Thus, this method is relatively complicated and the duration of the shaft sinking according to this method substantially equals that obtained according to the prior methods of sinking shafts. f In contradistinction to this known method the present improved method is based on using the (Cl. (i1-40) energy of the explosion which serves to break down the rock for throwing the muck upwards, whereby the thrown-up muck falls either directly or indirectly into the receptacle in which it is brought to the surface. 5

The present improved method consists insinking shafts vertically into the ground by deepening the full cross section of the shaft by two faces or stopes the lower in the central part of the shaft and the upper face in the remaining area of the cross section of the shaft thereby providing a bottom stope and an upper stope and in arranging firing charges in the thus provided stopes which are fired either simultaneously or successively and in deflecting the exploded and upwardly thrown rock from the stopes toward the outer sides of the shaft in temporarily restraining the exploded rock and in releasing the exploded and n restrained rock so that it will fall from the upper stope into a receptacle arranged or located in the bottom stope and nally raising the exploded rock verticallyY through the shaft from the bottom thereof.

The invention also contemplates the provision of an improved apparatus for carrying out the method and embraces the provision of a metal body or shell which rests on the bottom stope orv projects above the upper stope to cooperate with the latter to provide a temporary restraining bunker, a bale member being removably arranged at the upper end of the metal shell to deect the upwardly rising rock towards the sides of the shaft so that it will fall into the restrain--` ing bunker while in addition means is provided for controlling the passage of the broken and restrained rock from the bunker by gravity through the upper part of the shell so that it can fall into a hoisting receptacle located at the bottom of the shaft.

By the force of the explosion the ground from the stope will be thrown up vertically and fall down and be restrained temporarily and then directed into a receptacle with which it is brought to the surface. The blown up ground may be caught in a different manner and with different means. The means and apparatus referred kto in this specification serve for the purposeV of illustration only and do not cover all possible forms which lie in the scope of this invention.

The provision of the second or lower lstope makes it necessary to reinforce the vertical walls of the shaft immediately adjacent the stope to protect them from the detrimental action of the explosion. For this purpose there is employed a protective hollow body or shell of suitable cross section sunk into the shaft. This protective body is positioned closely adjacent to the lower part of the shaft walls and drops down due to gravity as the shaft becomes deeper.

The invention is clearly illustrated in the accompanying drawings, in which:-

Fig. 1 shows diagrammatically in vertical section the arrangement of the stope, the protecting body or shell which projects above the upper stope and cooperates therewith to form the bunker, while in addition to the deiiecting means is also shown.

Fig. 2 is a vertical sectional View of a similar form showing the practical embodiment, and

Fig. 3 is a plan view of the arrangement shown in Fig. 2.

Similar reference characters are employed in all of the above described views to indicate corresponding parts.

Referring now, more particularly, to the accompanying drawings and especially to Fig. 1 the bottom stope M forms the bottom of the shaft or pit O while the upper stope K is arranged co-axially with the lower stope and at a suitable distance thereabove. A protective body or shell A is situated in the pit O and has its upper edge projecting above the pit O and cooperates with a stope K in the outer walls of the shaft to provide a bunker P for temporarily restraining exploded rock. The upper part of the body or shell is provided with doors L which can be opened at times to allow the restrained rock to pass therethrough owing to gravity and to be deposited in a hoisting receptacle H. A deflecting member C is arranged at a considerable distance above the bunker to deflect upwardly thrown rock towards the outer walls of the upper part of the shaft in order to allow such rock to fall into the bunker. Blast receiving holes N are drilled vertically in each of the stopes.

The method of sinking shafts may be described generally as follows:

The protecting hollow body or shell A being arranged in the pit O, explosive material is arranged in the blast holes in the lower stope in such quantity as to ensure of the throwing up of the rock vertically to the height where the impact or balle member C is placed. The amount of explosive used in the holes in the upper stope K is so measured that the layer of ground or rock will be separated without scattering away. The blasting of both rounds is effected simultaneously or successively. The rock thrown up from the stope M is directed by the impact member C into the bunker P and covers the rock separated from the ground in the stope K. The rock remains in the bunker supported by the top part of the body of shell A. After blasting the impact member C is removed and a hoisting receptacle H is lowered from the surface into the hollow body A which latter incidentally moves down to the distance equal to the thickness of the layer removed by the blast. After the bucket has reached the bottom of the shaft or pit O the doors L are opened to allow the rock which has accumulated in the bunker P to pass due to the gravity into the bucket H with which it is brought to the surface.

After removing the rock which consumes but a very short time, the cycle of operations is repeated.

A practical embodiment of the apparatus is shown in Figs. 2 and 3 and consists of two parts; the lower part being constituted by the hollow body or shell A and an upper part in the form of a frame generally designated B for supporting the impact or baffle member C. These parts are connected together to form a unit. The part A is provided on its lower edge with a sharpened shoe A in order to facilitate its movement into the ground after the removal of the exploded rock.

The top part B of the apparatus carrying the impact or deecting member C comprises an iron structure of girders. These girders form a horizontal rectangular frame R with projecting ends. This frame is connected by means of strong steel sheets K to a similar frame R consisting of l() four girders aixed each to the upper edge of the corresponding face of the rectangular shell A. The sheets K form protective screens. Along the sheets K', between the projecting ends of the girders, fastening parts are provided in the form of horizontal platforms N. Some of these platforms serve for situating on them mechanisms to govern the deflecting member C, the discharging doors L, etc., as well as a means for supporting pumps and auxiliary machinery (not 20 vertical position along the sheets K so as to 30 make a passage inside the apparatus for the hoisting receptacle.

The mode of working with this apparatus is substantially disclosed in connection with Fig. 1.

The working cycle comprises the following oper- 35 ations:

(1) The explosive charges are placed into the lower and the upper stopes.

(2) The faces c, c, c, c of the pyramid C are closed.

(3) The apparatus positioned in the central pit is loosened from its suspension, for which purpose the ropes are lowered to a length equal to the depth of the blast holes.

(4) All rounds in both stopes are preferably 4 blasted simultaneously. The rock blasted up in the upper stope remains in the bunker P, while the rock from the central pit M is thrown up and falls into the bunker P partly directly and partly being deflected by the member C.

(5) After blasting, when the rock from the central pit has been thrown upwardly this entire system moves down towards the fresh bottom of the pit.

(6) The faces of the deiiecting pyramid C are released and the bucket H is lowered from the surface to the bottom of the pit M; the hinged doors L are opened by actuating suitable catch means I and the rock from the bunker P is allowed to fall down into the bucket which is now hoisted to the surface.

After removing the rock this cycle is repeated.

It is believed in view of the foregoing that a further detailed description of the operation of the invention is entirely unnecessary. Likewise it is believed that the advantages of the invention will be readily apparent.

We claim:

1. The method of sinking shafts vertically into the ground consisting in arranging and firing explosive charges substantially vertically in the ground to dene a vertical shaft, arranging and firing additional explosive charges adjacent the bottom of the shaft to increase the cross sectional area of the shaft and provide a stope, deecting the thus exploded and upwardly thrown rock at a point near the top of the shaft toward the outer sides of the shaft and directing it on to the stope, restraining the deflected rock at the stope to prevent its falling to the lowermost part of the shaft, releasing the exploded and restrained rock and muck from the stope .so that it Will fall into the bottom of the shaft, and nally raising the exploded rock and muck vertically through the shaft from the bottom thereof.

2. Apparatus for sinking vertical shafts of the type provided with a stope Comprising an open ended shell adapted to be sunk to the bottom of the shaft and of a cross sectional shape conforming substantially to the width of the .shaft so that it will act to guide rock exploded from the bottom of the shaft upwardly through the shaft, the upper portion of the shell being always positioned above the stope to cooperate with the stope to provide a temporary restraining bunker, a bafiie member removably arranged near the top of the shaft to deflect the upwardly rising rock towards the sides of the shaft so that it will fall into the restraining bunker, and means for oontrolling the passage of the broken and restrained rook by gravity through the upper part of the shell so that it can fall into the bottom of the shaft.

' KOPEL A. BERLIN.

SIMON A., BURMIS'IROW. 

